Celebrity Slander: arrest warrant issued against singer Ali Gul Pir

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has issued arrest warrants of singer and respondent Ali Gul Pir in its hearing on Monday for the defamations suit by another singer and actor Ali Zafar, ARY News reported.

The court also expressed its annoyance over nonsubmission of a challan against prime respondent Meesha Shafi to which the FIA prosecution team apprised the court of her absence noting that she is out of country.

In the defamation suit which claims the prime respondent and her friends ran a smear campaign against him on social media following Shafi’s original post which alleged Zafar sexually harassed her, the court has tasked FIA team to expedite its charge sheet against Meesha Shafi.

Other respondents whom the petitioner Ali Zafar thinks allied with Shafi and ran a coordinated defamatory campaign including Iffat Omar, Leena Ghani, and Fariha Ayub, were also present in the court today. Others include Haseemus Zaman, and Ali Gul who were not in the premises.

The challan on them noted the respondents published insulting posts against the petitioner on social media.

On the other hand, the respondents Fariha Ayub, Haseemus Zaman, and Syed Faizan have appealed to court to excuse themselves from regular hearings.

As the hearing today concluded, the court has been adjourned till Feburary 9.

Separately, it may be noted that earlier last week, one of the respondents Leena Ghani moved the Sindh High Court against Ali Zafar claiming Rs500 million in compensation for running a smear campaign against her which she says caused a great deal of mental trauma.

She tweeted earlier that day, using #Metoo hashtag which is reminiscent of the campaign where women began to call out their alleged harassers and means of harassments, that after years of “personal and legal attacks by Mr. Zafar,” she has decided to stand up fight back.